Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit – Review

The last couple months have been a struggle getting Brooke to sleep at night. Not only has it been difficult to get her down initially, but she also wakes up on a regular basis throughout her sleep. She was past the point of being swaddled, so we had been using a sleep sack which acts as a swaddle but keeps her legs loose. We finally realized that having arms pinned at her sides was uncomfortable for her, so we decided we needed something new and purchased a Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit.

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This sleepsuit is described as a product to transition a baby from swaddling by providing a “cozy, calming, and safe sleep environment.” The product’s website touts several benefits of the sleepsuit including:

Muffles startle movements.

Keeps baby secure making it easier to go back to sleep on their own.

Eliminates need to bedding or blankets.

At this time, Brooke still had a slight startle reflex which would cause her to wake up from time to time. Since one of the product features is to curtail this reflex, this seemed like a good product to try out. The suit comes in two sizes (3-6 months and 6-9 months) and two fabrics, the heavier micro fleece for colder weather and cotton for warmer climates and weather. We chose the 3-6 month size with the micro fleece fabric.

Upon receiving the suit, one of the first things we noticed about the micro fleece version is that it is pretty thick, which makes it difficult for us to get Brooke’s arms into the arm holes. Brooke hates this and it usually makes her cry, which is not a good start to the bedtime routine. The thickness of the suit and the design of the arms makes Brooke’s arms stick almost straight out at her sides. This isn’t really a bad thing. One difficulty we were having was that she likes to touch her face when we put her down, which keeps her awake. The way that the suit keeps her arms sticking out minimizes the access she has to her face.

Now we come to the meat of this article. Did the sleep suit work as advertised? Yes and no. For Brooke there is never one simple, quick solution. Minimizing the ability for her to touch her face is a big plus. She is growing out of the startle reflex on her own, but it’s still there a little. Watching her for a bit, it did look like her quick movements were muffled somewhat.

What it didn’t do was immediately fix the issue of her not going to sleep, or back to sleep on her own. This took some time over the next couple week. In my last post, I lamented about the difficulty we were having getting Brooke to sleep. I am happy to report that she is now going to sleep on her own at night, and for her naps with no crying. If she wakes up, she is able to go back to sleep on her own within a couple of minutes; I attribute this in part to the sleepsuit. The suit is a good compromise between swaddling and just wearing normal bedtime clothes. We tried a couple of times to put her to bed without the sleepsuit, but it didn’t work out as well.

The price of a single sleepsuit is $39.95 with the company offering a discount for purchasing multiple suits. The price is fairly high to just try it out to see if it works, but I think it is worth a shot. Eventually we will transition out of the sleepsuit all together, but for now we are happy with the purchase. If you are looking for something to transition your baby away from swaddling, I recommend taking a look at this product as part of the process.

My name is Paul and I am The Unexpected Dad.My wife and I married late in life and we didn’t really expect to have children (thus the title of my blog). We weren’t opposed to the idea of having children, but just assumed that it was not in the cards for us.

I write about the rather unexpected journey of fatherhood, please join me!

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Comments

The Merlin Sleep suit did not work for our baby, but my nephew is now using it. He puts it on and it is lights out. So if your infant is having trouble sleeping then it is worth a try. Thanks for the informative post!

The suit seems to be working for my 5 month old, but she, like Brooke, fights getting into it! She cries when she’s laid down in it, then continues to cry when I’m putting her arms and legs through. We are almost a week into sleep training. Did Brooke continue to fight getting into the suit, or did she eventually like it? I don’t want my daughter to grow to had naps and bedtime because of this, and I’m fearing that’s what’s happening!